Panasonic has announced a new, redefined plasma TV offering – starting in April, they will be releasing plasma TVs that are a quarter of the current thickness and that use half of the current energy. These new TVs will be available in Japan only, until the North American tentative summer release.

This is part of a bid by Panasonic to increase its combined sales of plasma and LCD TVs by 50% for the year beginning in April. This would take them to 15.5 million units for the year 2009.

Based on estimates from Panasonic, a 50-inch plasma that is about 1-inch deep and consumes 260 kilowatt hours of electricity per year would retail for about 600,000 yen, or $6,685 USD, and the 54-inch plasma would cost about 700,000 yen.